Band of the Forsaken
by Sage of the Wastes
Summary: Naruto has failed to bring back Sasuke and falls into depression. Akatsuki are plotting to capture him and Gaara but another group is showing interest in them too.
1. Chapter 1: Failure and Slaughter

**Band of the Forsaken**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I do own all my characters so…yeah.

_Flashback_

'thoughts'

**Demons talking**

Chapter 1: Failure and Slaughter

The forest on the border of Fire Country was awash in the dark orange of evening light. Crickets began their song and many animals found refuge for the night while those that thrived on darkness awoke. A soft wind blew through the leaves creating an almost musical rustling. It would have been beautiful if not for the blood staining much of the ground and the trees. A great battle had been fought in this forest, the battle to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke.

Near the valley that marked the end of Fire Country a dark-haired boy stood atop a cliff looking back over the land he had called home for his entire life.

"I knew my quest for power would one day lead me here. I have no choice but to continue if I am to kill Itachi."

Sasuke turned and began to walk away from the valley towards the village of the Sound.

"SASUKE!"

He stopped and turned to face a young blond boy by the name of Uzumaki Naruto standing just outside the forest at the bottom of the valley, breathing heavily.

They stared at each other for a long time; one whose face was an emotionless mask while the others was a mix of anger, sadness, and confusion.

"What are you doing here Naruto? I would have thought you would know better than to think you could stop me." Sasuke stated with a smirk evident on his face.

"You bastard! What are you thinking running to Orochimaru! You should know better than to trust that freak!"

"Shut up. I have to gain power to get my revenge and this is the only way to do it. There's no way I'll get stronger in that pathetic little village."

"But what about me and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei! We care about you! Sakura even loves you and you think it's nothing! You're just going to throw it all away because some madman offered you a chance to get stronger?"

"Yes."

Naruto was at a loss for words. He stared at the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"I thought we were friends. I thought you could understand me." Naruto looked up at Sasuke and continued. "You were one of the first people I ever considered a friend. We've been through so much together and now this? Has it always been this way? Have you always looked at us as mere stepping stones on your path to revenge?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and sighed. "Don't misunderstand. I always knew it would come to this but that doesn't mean our friendship wasn't real."

Naruto's eyes widened as Sasuke started the hand seals for the Chidori.

"In fact you have become…my closest friend." Sasuke stated as he finished the seals and watched as his chakra crackled into life in his palm, the sound of a thousand chirping birds filling the valley.

"And that…is why you are worth killing!" Sasuke shouted as he charged down the side of the cliff, using chakra to cling to its surface.

Anger returned to Naruto's face as he charged across the river running along the bottom of the valley, a shadow clone helping him to form the Rasengan in his hand.

"I promised Sakura I would bring you back to her and I will! Even if I have to beat you to within an inch of your life to do it!" Naruto roared as the Rasengan was completed and he jumped towards Sasuke.

"Alright then let's go! No Kakashi here to save you this time Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as he lunged toward Naruto at the same time as the other.

"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

The two met above the river and the entire valley was lost in a sea of light.

Naruto awoke days later in the warm bed of one of Konohas hospital rooms. He stared at the ceiling, reliving the battle in his mind.

The demon chakra taking him.

Sasuke and his level two curse seal.

Their techniques meeting for the second time and him collapsing before he could defeat Sasuke.

"I…failed."

* * *

"Orochimaru has gained the sharingan." A figure hidden in darkness stated to the others in the cave.

"Itachi your brother…" Another hesitantly spoke from their perch atop a stalagmite.

"It doesn't matter." Said one carrying a giant sword.

"Orochimaru will die eventually…yeah."

The first figure shifted. "This changes nothing. We begin our plan in three years."

Without a word all the figures melted into the darkness. All but one.

"Foolish little brother." He said before melting into the shadows like the rest.

* * *

Far away from the cave this meeting took place in and farther still from Konoha, in the eastern part of lightning country there lay a village. This village was not one of the hidden villages, far from it. In fact this village had no shinobi and the only ones they ever saw were hired for simple protection jobs or passing through to other parts of the country. Though not an extremely large village it had a bustling trade economy, with caravans reaching into all the surrounding countries. Due to this the population was rather large for a village of its size. A population which now lay dead.

Bodies littered the streets and blood coated the buildings. Some of the people appeared to have been have been caught unawares while others had tried to flee or to fight with whatever meager implements they could find. All their efforts had been in vain and the carrion birds now gorged themselves on this feast of humanity. Several of the buildings had been damaged and some still burned with a pathetic flame.

Towards the center of town the last inhabitant of the village lay huddled in fear before the six people responsible for the slaughter. They were all wearing identical black cloaks and were spread out across the middle of the town, but two stood directly in front of the man. Most of them appeared to be very young, not even passing the age of twenty, but their clothes stank with the smell of blood and the weapons they carried showed that these were no ordinary people. They were shinobi.

The man before them whimpered. "Why have you done this? We were a village of traders and craftsmen. What could we have done to deserve this? We never harmed anyone."

At this point a boy of sixteen strode forward and stabbed the man through the shoulder with a kunai.

"Never harmed anybody! You scum, I'll show you!" He shouted over the man's screams of pain as he began to cut at him with other knives he had pulled out of his pouch.

The oldest of them who could not be older than twenty-three grabbed his friends arm. "Sotoru…that's enough. We came here to kill them, not to torture them. I know how you feel about them. Why do you think I agreed to this plan in the first place? We have all experienced the same thing and that's why we are together now."

Sotoru stopped and looked up at the older man while putting his kunai away. "Fine Kazu."

Kazu stepped towards the man who now lay groaning on the ground and pulled a large scythe from its resting place on his back.

"May you be forgiven for your simple minded hatred." And with a flash of steel the man's life was ended.

"Was that sufficient vengeance for you Sotoru?"

Sotoru surveyed the bloodied shops and the corpses of men, women, and children littering the streets and smiled. "Yes Kazu I believe it is."

A young boy of about eight years appeared next to Kazu in a puff of smoke from his previous spot on top of one of the houses nearby.

"The Akatsuki will move for the one tail and the nine tails in three years Kazu."

Kazu smiled at the boy and reached down to ruffle his brown hair. "Excellent work Neota. Your sight has never failed us." He then turned to the others. "The Akatsuki will move in three years. We must reach the one tail and nine tails before then."

Without another word they left the village to begin plans of their own.

* * *

A/N

YES! I finally started my first Naruto fanfic! This has been in my head for such a long time it's so nice to get it typed up. I'm gonna try to update soon but shit happens so we'll see. I welcome all reviews and will try to respond to any questions in the next chapter. Oh and see if you can figure out who my OC's are. By the way I made Kazu's weapon a scythe because they kick ass. See ya next chapter and R&R!


	2. Chapter 2: Symphony of Sympathy

**Band of the Forsaken**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I could if I really wanted to.

_Flashback_

'thoughts'

**Demons talking**

Chapter 2: Symphony of Sympathy 

Naruto woke late in the night to find himself still in Konoha's hospital. He had been there for almost three days. The days were nothing but a continuous blur of nightmare plagued sleep and fleeting moments of consciousness where he was equally tormented by his memories.

He sat up and took stock of his surroundings for the first time. It was a fairly small room, obviously not meant for anything other than recovery. The door was on his left and next to it was a wardrobe which he assumed would contain spare clothes. It had a large bed which he was currently occupying and a nightstand on the side with various necessities on it such as tissue and mild painkillers. He noticed that his forehead protector was there as well. There was little medical equipment in the room other than some devices used to check recovery progress. There was a window on the wall to his right and across from the bed there was a large chair on which was currently occupied by the sleeping form of a certain jounin instructor.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked confused as to why the man would be asleep in his hospital room.

Kakashi woke with a start and looked around the room hurriedly before settling his gaze on the boy before him.

"Oh you're awake now. Sorry I just got back from a mission and came to check on you but I guess I fell asleep," he said while grinning sheepishly under his mask. "I'm glad you seem to be okay now. I've been worried ever since I brought you back but I'm afraid I haven't been able to visit until now."

Naruto smiled weakly and looked at his sensei. There were still people who cared about him even after his failure.

"Thanks for coming," he said, his old smile back on his face for an instant.

"No problem Naruto," Kakashi said as he returned the smile.

"So how is everyone else?"

Kakashi's face grew grim as he told Naruto the conditions of the other members of the recovery mission. "Well everyone's alive, at least for now. Shikamaru sustained the fewest injuries, suffering only a broken finger which he apparently inflicted upon himself to escape a genjutsu. Kiba also sustained only minor injuries, the most severe of which was a stab wound to his abdomen which he inflicted on himself though I don't know the full story behind it. After those two it gets much worse I'm afraid."

Naruto lost his smile from learning how well Shikamaru and Kiba had fared in their fights with the Sound nins and donned an expression of great concern.

"Why what happened to Neji and Chouji?"

'Kakashi sighed as he looked at his student's concerned face. "Neji suffered an extremely serious wound in his left shoulder above the heart. He was in intensive care for several hours but Shizune was able to stabilize his condition. He should be fine but it will take him quite some time to recover."

Kakashi shifted his gaze and stared out the window at the moon which was almost full. "Chouji was less fortunate. He used one of his family's techniques to defeat his opponent. I don't suppose you know anything about the Akamichi clan's techniques?" Kakashi turned towards Naruto who shook his head. "Ah. Well I didn't really expect you to," he said, turning back to the window. "Anyway their techniques tend to be powerful but use up chakra to the point that some amount of body mass is required. Chouji used a set of pills that made him stronger while eating away at his body. He was forced to take all three which is almost certain death because the deterioration of the body does not stop. Basically, unless it can be stopped his body will devour itself."

Naruto sat remembering Shikamaru's words after they had left Chouji to deal with Jidoubu.

"_I know that more than any of us Chouji is the strongest."_

"Will he be okay?"

"At this point It's hard to say but unless the effects of those pills can be countered he will die," Kakashi stated in a somber tone.

"I see." Naruto said in a strained voice. He didn't want one of his few friends to die because he hadn't been able to keep Sasuke from running away. "What about Lee?"

Kakashi looked confused for a moment before he remembered. "Oh yeah I remember Gai telling me he had gone after you. I must have missed him when I went to catch up to you and Sasuke. Don't worry about him though. As far as I know he only suffered some cuts and bruises."

Naruto was relieved to hear that at least one of his friends managed to make it out relatively unscathed. Then he remembered who his opponent had been. "You mean he beat that freaky bone dude with almost no injuries? Damn and that guy was tough. How'd he manage that?"

"Actually Lee wasn't the one who fought the Kaguya boy. Konoha has recently repaired its alliance with the Sand and they sent one of their more advanced genin teams to assist. They arrived after you went after Sasuke. I believe you know them actually. One of them uses sand. He was the one that saved Lee."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean Gaara! He's here? And he saved LEE?" The last time he had seen Gaara and Lee in the same room together Lee had been unconscious in a hospital bed and Gaara had been about to kill him.

Kakashi smiled slightly as Naruto went on about how crazy and creepy Gaara was. Seeing some of the old Naruto again was refreshing. He couldn't handle all this moping from the loudest ninja in Konoha. "Well the Hokage was skeptical about it too since she was given information on everything that happened during the chuunin exams. But according to his sensei and teammates Gaara is far more…stable than he used to be, so the Hokage agreed."

Naruto stopped his babbling and smiled. "That's good. He was kinda a jerk before but it wasn't his fault really."

Kakashi looked confused at that. "What do you mean?" As far as he knew there wasn't a way that being a crazed killing machine could not be his fault.

Naruto's smile faded a little as he thought of the sand boy's fate. "Gaara is…just like me."

Kakashi was puzzled by this. Naruto was probably the last person he would have compared Gaara to. His visible eye widened as he remembered the beast he had seen fighting Gamabunta during the Sound invasion. "You don't mean he's…"

"When I saw him in Lee's hospital room after the preliminaries for the third part of the chuunin exam he told me and Shikamaru that a demon had been sealed in him when he was born, in an attempt by the village to create the perfect shinobi."

Kakashi was shocked. He had seen the way Naruto was treated by most of the village. He knew that the fourth Hokage had had no other choice but still wished there was another way. But to do it intentionally? For no other reason than to create a weapon? That was just sick. "So he's a demon vessel too? That would explain his unique abilities and his state of mind," he said thoughtfully.

While Kakashi thought about what Naruto had just told him Naruto turned and sat on the edge of the bed. He checked himself over for remnants of the injuries he sustained during his fight with Sasuke. They seemed to be completely healed. He pulled his shirt up to check the spot on his chest where Sasuke had impaled him with the Chidori.

'Not even a scar. I guess having that damned fox stuck inside me has its perks.'

He got off the bed and stretched out before walking over to the wardrobe.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, finally coming out of his thoughts to notice Naruto's activity.

Naruto grabbed a fresh set of clothes out of the wardrobe which consisted of loose fitting blue pants and a t-shirt. "I need to get out of here for awhile. You know as well as I do that I'm completely healed," he said as he changed.

"Shizune would never allow you to leave yet even if you are healed."

Naruto finished getting dressed and walked over to the nightstand to put on his forehead protector. "I know," he said smiling as he walked over to the window and opened it. "I'll come back before morning but I need some time to think and I can't do that while I'm here."

"Alright. Be careful and make sure your back before dawn," Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and gave him his trademark grin. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." He jumped out the window towards the other buildings. "See ya later sensei!"

Kakashi got up to leave and stopped at the door. He turned around and looked out the window Naruto had left from. "I'm sorry Naruto," he whispered before stepping out into the hallway and heading home.

* * *

Naruto ran across the rooftops towards the Hokage monument, where he often went when he needed to be alone.

'Why did you leave Sasuke?' He thought as he leaped to another building.

'What were you thinking when you left?'

He arrived at the bottom of the monument and looked up at the faces of the previous Hokage, each the strongest ninja of their time. He focused on the face of the third Hokage.

'Did I do something wrong Old Man? Was it my fault he left?'

He stood in front of the monument for several minutes before he made his way to the top. He sat staring over the village, thinking of all the times he may have had opportunities to keep Sasuke from turning down the path of an Avenger.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto jumped up and whirled to face whoever had managed to sneak up on him. He stopped as he realized who the newcomer was.

"Gaara of the Desert."

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke stood atop one of the tallest buildings in Hidden Sound. He had arrived two days ago and had spent the next couple of days having his injuries healed by Orochimaru's assistant, who he remembered was named Kabuto. Kabuto had been surprised at the extent of the injuries he had sustained in his fight with Naruto, even though he had been using the level two curse seal and his sharingan.

Sasuke growled as he remembered the fight. 'When did you get so powerful Naruto? I was always the strongest and then you suddenly gain all that power without me noticing! I have to be stronger than you or else I'll never be able to kill Itachi!'

He jumped off the building he was on and ran through the now empty streets towards the southern wall of the village. He jumped to the top, ignoring the startled guards patrolling the top. He turned and looked back towards the tower that Orochimaru occupied. He thought it terribly ironic how much it resembled the Hokage Tower in Konoha. He was no fool. He knew there must be some other reason that Orochimaru had wanted him other than his skills, though he didn't know what exactly it was. Maybe he wanted him there to revive his clan in the Sound so he would have the Uchiha clan at his disposal. It didn't matter though. He would take what he could from the snake sannin and then kill him. Once he could do that he would hunt down his brother.

He turned back and stared in the direction of Konoha.

'When my brother is dead we will meet again Naruto…and then I will kill you.'

A/N

Well it took a lot longer than I had hoped it would but it's finally done. Thanks to those of you who reviewed. I have a problem with motivation and it helps to know people are reading my story. I'm gonna try to get the next chapter out sooner and I'll try to make it a bit longer too. I also don't have anyone to edit for me so sorry if I missed any mistakes. If anyone wants to edit for me drop me a line. So anyway see ya later. Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3: Conversing Sands

**Band of the Forsaken**

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have been unable to obtain ownership of Naruto since the last chapter but I'll keep trying!

_Flashback_

'thoughts'

**Demons talking**

**

* * *

**

Hey there! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, it helps with the whole motivation thing. Ok on to business. Firstly there will be no yaoi and there may not be any pairings at all though I can't say for sure at this point. As for Sasuke wanting to kill Naruto I know why he spared him but I wanted to him to want to kill Naruto after he killed his brother because it would be his way of closing his story. Tying up the loose ends so to speak. Anyway enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter 3: Conversing Sands

"Gaara of the desert."

Naruto stood before the vessel of the one-tailed demon Shukaku and frowned. Despite what he had told Kakashi he was still slightly afraid of the sand boy. Regardless of his reasons he had killed dozens, perhaps even hundreds of people. Naruto felt that Gaara had the potential to be a good person but the fact was that it wasn't always Gaara who was in control. He remembered their fight during the chuunin exams and shivered slightly. The eyes that had stared at him from the abomination that had earlier been Gaara were anything but human and far from sane.

"What do you want?"

Gaara continued to stare at the boy before him. Naruto was a puzzle to him. He had managed to defeat him, the invincible Gaara, out of his desperation to save his friends. That had been a very…enlightening experience. He had always believed that to fight for one's self was true strength. But then along comes this annoying loudmouth preaching to him about "friendship" and "loyalty". He had begun to change his way of thinking since then and had tried to restrain himself. He turned away from the boy before him to stare at the moon.

"He gets restless when the moon is full." Gaara looked back at Naruto with a curious look on his face.

"But…He is no longer the one in control."

Naruto stared back at Gaara, contemplating what he had just heard.

"You mean that you control him now?"

Gaara shook his head. "We have reached something of a truce. Before, I had no reason to control him, nor any real desire to. I fought with him but it was a halfhearted attempt. I can keep him at bay if I promise to feed him on missions." He gave Naruto a piercing stare that caused the boy to flinch. "And what about you? Has your control faltered, or has it grown?"

Naruto stared at Gaara in shock. He had implied that he was a vessel to the boy in the past but had never outright told him. He thought he had been vague enough that he wouldn't figure it out.

"H-How did you know?" He managed to stutter out through his surprise.

"At the start of your fight with the Hyuuga I could feel it, when you first released your chakra. It had the taint of something that did not belong there, though your body handles the contrast better than mine does. No doubt that is a function of your seal. I doubt that anyone else would have noticed it. It would take a great understanding of demon chakra to recognize its influence on another chakra system." He turned away slightly, so that Naruto was staring at his side. "I have been in contact with my demon for my entire life, but you only recently faced yours correct?"

Naruto stared for awhile before sitting back down and turning to face the village. "Yeah. I met him during the month before the third part of the chuunin exam." He chuckled slightly. "He was almost as big of an ass as Sasuke."

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the name. He remembered the Uchiha boy very well. He had been such a…disappointment. He had been expecting more from the great Uchiha clan but their last member seemed to little more than an obsessed and egotistical crybaby with little skill other than what he had borrowed from others. He had been surprised that he had managed to defeat Naruto, though it was by a slight margin if the falling chakra levels had indicated anything.

"Uzumaki," he said turning to face the back of the blond.

Naruto turned his head so that he could see Gaara.

"What?"

"Why did you choose to follow him? He had clearly made his decision."

Naruto turned back again, a sad smile appearing on his face. "He was a comrade. We had been through so much as a team. Missions, the chuunin exams, and the invasion. I thought that it had meant something to him that it didn't. But the real reason is…he was one of the first people I could ever really consider a friend."

Gaara was stood silently for a while before sitting down on the ground. Sand began to trickle from the gourd he kept on his back, massing into a blob in front of him. Naruto turned, slightly startled by the sound. He tensed at the sight of the sand in front of him but calmed when it made no move for him.

"My mother lost her life so that the demon Shukaku could be sealed within me at birth. I never had any control and killed many people unintentionally. Because of this I was feared by my entire village. I was always alone," Gaara said as he raised his hands over the sand before him, causing it to shift. It took the shape of a group of children playing with a ball while a younger looking Gaara sat away from the group with his head buried in his knees. "When I grew up my father, the Kazekage, began to fear me as well. He was afraid that I could one day threaten him if left unchecked. He decided that my existence was too dangerous so he sent assassins to kill me. I was five when I killed the first one."

Naruto stared at Gaara in shock. He had always wanted a family but had been told that his parents had died during the Kyuubi attack. He remembered watching the other kids with their parents and how happy they all seemed to him. He couldn't imagine a parent wanting to kill there own child.

'He must have had an even harder life than I did'

He snapped back out of his thoughts as Gaara continued his puppet show.

"The first person I ever considered a friend was my Uncle, Yashamaru." He shifted his hands above the sand and it changed to the figure of smiling man with a Sand forehead protector. "He took care of me for the first several years of my life. He made me feel loved for the first time."

The sand changed to a building with the same version of Gaara from earlier sitting on the edge. Suddenly a masked figure appeared on top of a raised section of the roof and hurled several shuriken at him. Just before they hit a wall of sand appeared and protected the boy from the weapons. The boy turned around and sent a wave of sand at his assailant, crushing him against the wall. The young Gaara walked towards the man and removed his mask to reveal Yashamaru.

"He was one of the assassins my father sent to kill me. He told me that he could have refused the assignment but he wanted to do it. He said that he had always resented me for taking the life of his sister. He also told me that my mother had never loved me and wanted me to live on as her revenge on the village for making her their sacrifice."

The miniature of Yashamaru suddenly exploded and the sand drifted back into the gourd on Gaara's back.

"You know what I became after that. Gaara, the demon who would love only himself." He stood up and began to walk away from the still stunned Naruto. He stopped before he reached the forest. "You could now become what I was, if that is your choice. Drive others away and live for yourself. Or you can continue the path you started and protect those who are still dear to you. Just remember that people are not always what they appear," he finished, disappearing in a whirlwind of sand.

Naruto stared at the spot that Gaara had occupied moments before, his mind working to process everything he had just been told.

'He's right. I thought I knew Sasuke but I never really understood him. If I had I would have seen this coming. I need to watch the behavior of the people around me more closely.' He stood up and stretched, watching night give way to the dawn. 'I guess I better get back to the hospital or Shizune will rip me a new one.' He smiled fondly thinking of the young woman. 'At least I know I'll always have her and the Old Lady.'

He began to make his way back to his hospital room, sprinting across the rooftops.

* * *

Gaara made his way back into the central part of the village. He wasn't really supposed to be out wandering around the village. The Hokage had warned him that there were many people who still resented the Sand for their part in the Sound invasion. He was unconcerned however as it was generally understood that it was dangerous to mess with him. The sun was beginning to rise and the people of Konoha began to rise along with it. He saw stores and restaurants opening while vendors rolled their carts out into the streets. Everything here was very different from the way it was in the Sand. There, everything had to be kept indoors to protect against the unpredictable sand storms and even then things tended to get sandy. He stopped at a stall and wordlessly bought some apples. Fresh fruit was another rarity in Hidden Sand and although he didn't really care it was still nice to have when he could get it. He checked the position the sun had taken just above the horizon and judged that Temari and Kankurou would be waking up soon.

'I suppose…I should head back.'

He turned down another street that led towards where he was staying with his sibling's. His mind wandered back to his encounter with the Uzumaki boy. He knew exactly what he was going through and hoped he would make a different choice than the one he had made, though he would not stop the boy if he chose to do so.

He stopped walking and opened the door of a small one story building practically right next to the village wall. It consisted of two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a sparsely furnished living room which connected directly to the front door. It was clearly made for foreign ninja teams staying short term in the village. He shut the door and heard a sound coming from the rooms only other doorway. He turned to find a half awake Kankurou leaning on the door frame sleepily, with his outfit hastily thrown on and lacking his usual face paint.

"Hey G-Gaara, wh-what's up," he said, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

Gaara stared at Kankurou with a look that approached amusement before dropping the bag with the apples in it on the single table in the middle of the room and brushing past him.

"Hey what's in the bag?" Kankurou asked the retreating figure of his brother.

"Breakfast."

"Oh. Ok." He blinked before walking over to the table and grabbed an apple out of the bag. He stared at the doorway where he had seen Gaara leave. "Sheesh. I'll never understand that guy," he muttered to himself before taking a bite out of his apple.

* * *

A/N

Okay I know I said this chapter would be longer and would come out faster but I haven't had the chance to right before today due to school and I just found out that I'm gonna be leaving town for a week and won't have access to the internet so I wanted to post something so as not to leave the impression that I wasn't going to update. I'll have all next week to right though so I'll be able to make it longer. Well I'm completely out of energy so I'm done here. Have a Merry Christmas! Oops I mean Happy Holidays! And remember to R&R!


	4. Chapter 4:Warning Signs

**Band of the Forsaken**

Disclaimer: I am a little closer to owning Naruto but I'm still not quite there.

_Flashback_

'Thoughts'

**Demons talking**

Chapter 4: Warning Signs

Being a ninja meant that one got used to all sorts of things that the average citizen would most likely find strange. Jutsus being the prime example as very few untrained individuals could do things such as shoot flames from their mouth or burrow through the ground. A less extreme example, and the one most often overlooked by the ninja community, was their methods of travel around their villages. Most ninja tended to jump from rooftop to rooftop as their main means of travel, seeing as how it was much easier to do this than to maneuver through the streets below. Though this was a very common practice among ninjas it still fascinated and surprised many common villagers.

Naruto was currently involved in this particular mode of travel. He was making his way back to the hospital after visiting the Hokage monument to reflect. His encounter with Gaara had been unexpected but very enlightening. He had known that there was at least one other person who shared the same fate as him but he hadn't expected that person to be able to understand his current situation so completely.

He checked the sun's position in the sky as he drew nearer to the hospital. 'Shit I better hurry up or someone might notice I'm gone,' he thought, increasing his speed.

He arrived at the base of the hospital and started to sprint up the side, causing a few early rising villagers to blink a few times to make sure they were fully awake. Ninja village or no you didn't see a young boy in hospital clothes run up the side of a building everyday.

Naruto arrived at his floor and jumped into the open window and onto the floor. At least that had been his plan before a fist belonging to very angry women sent him crashing to the floor rather than landing nimbly on his feet as he had intended. He regained enough consciousness to tilt his head up and saw a very, VERY, angry looking Tsunade.

"And just where the HELL did you go this morning?" she roared as she lifted him up by his collar, apparently forgetting that he was supposed to be injured and that even if he hadn't been there was a good chance that he was now after her punch had connected with the top of his skull. She had actually gotten up at the crack of dawn to visit Naruto who had worried her so much. The crack of dawn for crying out loud! She could be sleeping on a pile of very important legal documents right now but here she was practically strangling the boy who thought it would be a good idea to go against the medical advice of one of the best medic nins in the world. She had arrived full of concern for her favorite little brat only to find that he had left, which sent her into a realm of pissed off she hadn't been in a very long time.

Naruto managed to slip out of his shirt and fell to the ground holding his throat and coughing. In between his gasps for breath Tsunade heard something that sounded an awful lot like "Crazy old bat." But decided to let it go as most of the ways she could think of to get him to shut up involved permanent brain damage or paralysis.

Naruto stumbled to his feet still coughing. "Damn that hurt why did you go and do that!" he shouted as soon as he got his voice back.

"Why do you think you little punk! You run off in the middle of the night and don't tell anyone where you're going or even that you're leaving! And you expect me to be all happy to see you?"

Naruto stared at Tsunade for moment before answering. "Well…yeah why not?"

Tsunade went through many different reactions in the space of a few seconds, ranging from anger to confusion. She finally threw her arms up in surrender. "Fine. Whatever you say. Will you at least tell me where you went?"

Naruto walked over the chair that Kakashi had occupied the night before and sat down. "I had to get out of here for awhile. I had to go someplace to think things over. Besides, I'm completely healed," he said, flexing his arm.

Tsunade's face softened a bit. She knew from Kakashi the kind of life Naruto had lived or rather had had forced upon him. It wasn't a pleasant fate. He had been branded from the start as the demon that had caused Konoha so much pain and suffering. It wasn't fair and it had been hard not to resign as Hokage as soon as she found out exactly what had gone on. She looked into Naruto's eyes and could see that some of the life had left them. Sasuke had driven him to a place he had never been before. He had been hated all his life but he had never been betrayed before.

She sighed. "I understand. Try to cheer up a bit alright?" She walked towards the door. "Well I've got a bunch of work to get done so I must be going. I'll let you get out of here tomorrow morning."

Naruto jumped out of the chair he had been warming. "What! Tomorrow! But I'm fine now!"

Tsunade turned and smirked at him. "Maybe that'll teach you to go running off in the middle of the night." She walked out the door and was about to close it when she remembered something. "By the way I think Jiraiya was looking for you too so you might want to pretend your dead or something," she said before closing the door.

"Great," Naruto mumbled to himself. "Another day in this crappy little room." He walked over to the bed and lay back down on it. "Ah well guess I better work on pretending to be dead."

He had just closed his eyes when the door to his room slammed open and a pink blur tackled him to the floor.

After regaining consciousness for the second time in less than an hour he managed to sit up, finally noticing the sobbing Sakura that had somehow attached herself to his midsection.

"S-Sakura?" He managed to stutter out in between her sobs.

She looked up and he noticed the rings under her eyes, giving her a creepy resemblance to Gaara.

"What's wrong?"

She got up slowly and sat down on the edge of the bed as Naruto raised himself into a sitting position.

Sakura managed to get herself under control enough to answer Naruto. "I came to the hospital this morning to check on you and I ran into Hokage-Sama and she said that you were gone! I thought you had left just like Sasuke!"

Guilt hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. He had run out in the middle of the night without thinking anything of the consequences or the concerns of others.

'Not that anyone in this damn hospital would've cared at all,' he thought bitterly.

He stood up and walked over to Sakura who had managed to calm herself down. He sat down next to her on the bed and reached out a hand to pat her on the back.

"I'm sorry Sakura. I didn't know I was gonna worry anybody if I left for awhile. Don't you worry though I won't run out on you like that bastard Sasuke!" He finished with a hint of anger evident in his voice.

Sakura looked up and gave him a weak smile. "Thanks Naruto," she said and hopped off the bed to go look out the window.

They both stayed silent for a long while. Naruto eventually flopped back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring Sasuke back," he said quietly.

Sakura turned to look at him with a start. "Why are you apologizing Naruto? It's not your fault." She lowered her head before speaking again. "I'm a coward. Asking you to go retrieve Sasuke for me. If I hadn't been so busy trying to look pretty for him I could have been stronger. Maybe even strong enough to get him back myself."

Naruto stared at her wide-eyed. He had never seen her like this before. Normally she was cheerful, even if she was yelling at him it had always held a somewhat playful demeanor. His face contorted in anger. 'Sasuke. You son of a bitch. How could you do this to Sakura? All she ever did was care about you and you just tossed her aside like some piece of trash. I'll make you pay for this.' He quickly hid his anger and changed his expression to a cheerful smile.

"Hey hey! Don't worry Sakura! I think you're a really strong ninja! And don't worry about Sasuke. As soon as the old hag lets me out of here I'll go kick his ass and then drag it back here all the way from the Sound village!" He said jumping up into a pose similar to that of Lee or Gai but not as creepy.

Sakura smiled at Naruto. 'At least he cares enough to try,' she thought to herself. "Thanks Naruto but next time I'll come with you to get Sasuke back."

"Already eager to chase down Sasuke again are we? Well I wouldn't worry about that for awhile yet!" A voice boomed from outside the window, causing both Naruto and Sakura to turn suddenly towards the new arrival.

Naruto stared out the window for a moment before It registered with him just who was hanging out on top of a giant toad outside his window. "Ahhh! It's Ero-sannin!"

Jiraiya frowned. "Hey brat that's no way to talk to the invincible Toad hermit Jiraiya! And here I came to give you the offer of a lifetime!"

Naruto brightened up immediately, a dumbstruck Sakura all but forgotten in the background. "Really? What is it? Some super cool new jutsu I'll bet, something that I can use to beat the crap out of Sasuke in a second. Or maybe it's some forbidden technique that let's me…"

As Naruto went on and on about what this "offer of a lifetime" could possibly be Sakura snapped out of her initial shock at the way the two greeted each other. "Jiraiya-Sama?"

Jiraiya turned to look at Sakura. "Yes how can I help you young lady?" He said with a large grin.

"I was wondering about what you said when you got here, about not needing to worry about going after Sasuke for awhile."

Jiraiya's smile grew even wider. "Ah it's good to see that someone was paying attention to my marvelous introduction! Yes what I meant by that is that, according to my intelligence networks Orochimaru will not be able to complete his plans for Sasuke until three years from now." At this Naruto finally stopped his rant and started listening to Jiraiya. "It seems he got impatient while waiting for Sasuke so he will have to wait another three years before he can steal Sasuke's body." He turned to look at Sakura. "Tsunade told you the particulars of Orochimaru's plan didn't she?" Sakura nodded. "Good then that's all sorted out." His face suddenly grew grave. "But…you should forget about Sasuke."

Naruto and Sakura both started at this. "What do you mean forget about him!" Naruto shouted. "We can't just leave him in the hands of that snake bastard!"

Sakura took a step towards Jiraiya. "Naruto's right. We can't just leave him, even if he did run off."

Jiraiya raised a hand to silence them. "Trust me when I say I know how the two of you feel but Sasuke made this decision on his own. He won't be coming back. If you insist on Going after him Naruto you can forget about any training from me and you will be constantly under surveillance by ANBU."

Naruto sighed and turned to stare at the wall. "Well if that's the case then I'll just have to do it without the help of you or the village! I'm gonna keep my promise to Sakura!" He shouted turning back to face a now chuckling Jiraiya. "Eh? What's so funny?"

Jiraiya's chuckle developed into a hearty laugh. "Hahaha! Well I can see you're going to do this one way or another. Meet me in the training grounds at noon in a week. We'll be leaving the village for a couple years so say your farewells before then!"

"Naruto's frown turned into one of his foxy grins. "Alright I'll be there. But you better teach me some really cool jutsu!"

"Well then I'll meet you in a week brat!" Jiraiya shouted as the toad he was upon began to leap away.

Sakura stared at Naruto as he watched his new sensei ride off towards the Hokage tower. Now Naruto was getting special training just like Sasuke. 'I'm going to be left behind again,' she thought as she stared down at her feet. 'No. I won't be worthless! I'm going to get stronger and then I'll help Naruto get Sasuke back!' She ran towards the door shouting back at Naruto; "I have to go do something Naruto! I'll come see you again tomorrow!"

"Um…okay?" Naruto said as he watched the retreating form of his kunoichi teammate.

He stared at the clock on the wall. "Ugh. It's only noon and already so much has happened. What is it with people yelling at me and then just running off?" He wandered over to the chair across from his bed and collapsed into it. 'Whew I got carried away this morning with all the running around. Maybe I do need a little more rest,' He thought as he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

He awoke in a place that he found uncomfortably familiar. Water stained corridors lined with pipes stretched on and on while he stood in ankle deep water.

"Ah shit," he said turning around.

"**Is that anyway to greet the one to whom you owe your life?" **A booming voice echoed through the corridors. The awesome nine-tailed demon fox Kyuubi toward before him, still threatening though rendered harmless by the seal of the Fourth Hokage.

Naruto snorted. "Oh please you did that more to help yourself than to help me."

Kyuubi waved his nine tails around in the air behind him. "**Hah. That may be true but the fact is you're alive because of me. And show me some respect you little runt!"**

Naruto rolled his eyes at the demon before him. "Well what do you want? You obviously didn't bring me here just to chat."

Kyuubi smiled.** "The real question brat, is what do you want?" **

"That's a stupid question you stupid fox. I want to get Sasuke back of course!" He frowned, realizing what the fox had meant. "Hey wait. You don't mean…?"

"**Yes boy. You felt it before didn't you? During your fight with the Uchiha. You used far more of my power than you ever have before. How did it feel having that kind of power?"**

Naruto looked away with a pained expression. "It felt…good. Really good. But why?" He turned back to the demon. "Why was it so different this time?"

"**At some point during our fight with the Uchiha your goal changed. You had wanted to bring him back to Konoha, to keep your promise to that pathetic girl but before you tapped into my chakra you no longer cared. You used my chakra with the same intent that I use it with. You wanted him dead and you still do don't you?"**

Naruto looked down at his feet, a mixture of shame and anger. "Yes," he managed to grind out through clenched teeth. "Why are you doing this! Don't bring this up with me right now I don't need this!"

Kyuubi grinned again looking at the distraught Naruto.** "I could give you more of my chakra."**

Naruto's head snapped up at that, a hungry look in his eyes. "More?" He said, licking his lips and trembling with excitement, a desperate look in his eyes. 'With that kind of power I could take down Sasuke and the entire Sound village.'

The demon's smile widened even more to reveal his vicious teeth. '**Now I have him.'**

"**Yes more. As much as your body can handle. But I want something from you."**

A swirl of red flashed across Naruto's eyes for a moment before he responded. "I'll do anything for it."

Kyuubi cracked his tails in the air behind him. "**I want you to weaken the seal. You have the power to do that. I want to taste freedom from time to time.**

Naruto thought for a moment. He didn't know if he could do that. He would be betraying the village in a way and he didn't know how he felt about that. "I…don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. I have to think about it."

The demon did not look very pleased with this answer. "**Fine brat. But you better remember that you owe me." **Kyuubi's eyes widened as he felt a foreign presence enter his hosts mind. "**Are you expecting someone?"**

Naruto looked at the demon in confusion. He was about to ask him what he was talking about when everything around him vanished. He was floating in a sea of absolute nothingness, an infinite sea of white.

"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted, hearing his voice echo off of walls that weren't there. He struggled to move around but couldn't do anything other than flail around. After a moment he calmed down enough to notice that a boy in a black cloak had appeared about thirty feet in front of him. The boy was young, younger even than him. And had messy brown hair that was about the same length as Gaara's. His most stunning feature was his eyes, which were completely white except for a ring of black where his iris should have been.

"Hey who the hell are you and what are you doing in my mind!" He shouted, Shaking his fist at the boy.

The boy smiled. "My name is Neota Serano."

* * *

A/N

Alright chapter four is finally done. I had some issues with my word document and then I got terrible insomnia which made it hard to do anything and then school and then this and that and blah blah blah. Anyway I'm gonna be able to update with more regularity from now on so thanks for sticking with me for those of you still interested. I will also try to continue to up the length. Anyway thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews are much appreciated. See ya later!


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